Koenigsegg Jesko Absolut rewrites the production car record books

Volkswagen has revealed the ID. ERA 5X, a China-only compact electric SUV and the first VW production car built on the new CMP platform co-developed with XPeng. It uses a CATL battery, Chinese assisted-driving software and a 208 hp motor, with range still unconfirmed. The real story is the role reversal: the brand that helped teach China to build cars now depends on Chinese technology, and it may bring the result to Europe.

Bentley has built a one-off Mulliner Continental GTC to mark 80 years of its Crewe factory, with fade paint, an embroidered 80 and an airbrushed image of the Design Studio. The site began in 1938 building Rolls-Royce Merlin aero engines for Spitfires, turning to cars only in 1946. With Bentley going all-electric by 2035, the anniversary quietly doubles as a countdown for the combustion craft it celebrates.

European diesel stockpiles are on course for their lowest level since 2015, according to separate warnings from Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. A leaked Iranian plan to restrict shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has only sharpened the risk.

The Netherlands became the first EU country to approve Tesla's Full Self-Driving system in April 2026. Email correspondence obtained by Reuters now shows the regulator agreed, at Tesla's own request, to keep the entire safety case confidential.

TOMOELL has put a new 1,925-piece LEGO Subaru Impreza WRC up for a vote on LEGO Ideas, in Colin McRae's blue and gold livery, months after an earlier version of the same car reached the required 10,000 supporters and was still turned down at the official review stage.

Smart wanted to reveal its new #2 city car gradually, through a global street art campaign building anticipation for an October unveiling at the Paris motor show. A Chinese homologation filing skipped straight to the spec sheet, two months early.

Andreas Preuninger has run Porsche's GT division for nearly 25 years, has not missed once across 26 models by his own count, and says the hardest part of his job now is not building a faster car. It is keeping Brussels out of the way of a good one.

XPeng delivered 38,027 vehicles in July 2026, up just 4% year on year, and its shares still fell more than 3%. In the same month Leapmotor topped 100,000 and Zeekr more than doubled, leaving XPeng and Li Auto as the two former Chinese EV darlings whose growth has stalled. The real story is not China versus the West, but a savage shakeout between Chinese brands that is only beginning.

The Peugeot Partner has turned 30, with more than 2.6 million vans sold across three generations since 1996, including the passenger Rifter. The current range spans the electric E-Partner, the value Partner Active and a rugged Pro Skill, with a hybrid arriving in 2027. Its real significance is bigger than a workhorse: the Partner's boxy, space-first packaging is now the template the affordable EV era is converging on.

Michal Strnad, a 33-year-old Czech defence tycoon who built his fortune supplying ammunition to Ukraine, has bought 14% of Pirelli for just under 1 billion euro. He acquired the stake directly from China's state-owned Sinochem, easing years of Italian and US scrutiny over Chinese control of the F1 tyre supplier. It is a striking sign of who now has the money to rewrite ownership of strategic European industry.

Ford CEO Jim Farley told employees at a closed town hall that Chinese automakers will enter the US market within five to ten years, most likely toward the end of that window. The forecast is not new, but the private audience is: he is warning his own staff that the tariffs keeping Chinese cars out are temporary. Ford is responding with a 30,000 dollar electric pickup and talks with Xiaomi and Geely.

BYD has revealed the Racco, an electric kei car for Japan, becoming the first foreign carmaker ever to design a car to Japan's strict kei rules. It has a 20 kWh Blade battery, 180 km of WLTC range and sliding doors, priced around 15,000 euro to take on the Nissan Sakura. After weak sales since 2023, it marks a shift from exporting global models to engineering cars for a single market.

The Schwarz Group, parent of Lidl and Kaufland, has temporarily stopped employees ordering fully electric company cars in Germany, across a fleet of about 13,000 vehicles. The reason is not range or charging but weak used-EV resale values, which hit Schwarz directly because it buys and resells its cars rather than leasing them. It is a rare, honest price signal about the transition's weakest link.

BMW owners are furious after their cars began playing a Spider-Man: Brand New Day advert on the dashboard at startup, complete with music and cabin lighting, in more than 70 countries from 27 July to 10 August. BMW denies it is advertising, calling it a special surprise and a festive animation. The bigger story is not the ad, but the language, and the fact that a screen you paid for can now be used to show it.

Tedson Motors has revealed a bespoke Grigio Titanio Etna commission built for a Texas-based race car driver, complete with a white racing stripe and dark blue pinstripes nodding to the owner's motorsport background. It is one of 77 examples of the Croatian coachbuilder's 600 hp Lamborghini Gallardo restomod.

Hyundai BeLux has launched the IONIQ 9 Calligraphy Black Ink, a monochrome flagship trim for its award-winning electric SUV, priced from €90,095 and available to order now for September 2026 delivery.

BMW has begun series production of the new i3 at its Munich plant, the second Neue Klasse model after the iX3. European deliveries start this autumn, with US sales following in late 2027.

Manthey Racing marks 30 years since Olaf Manthey founded it as a single Nürburgring race shop in 1996. Porsche now owns 51 percent of the company, and its road-legal Manthey Kits are available for nine Porsche GT models.

SRT has revealed eBoost Air, an experimental electric compressor fitted to a Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT Concept, designed to eliminate turbo lag on its 3.0-litre Hurricane inline-six. Multiple outlets put its output around 640 hp, though SRT has not confirmed an official figure.

Porsche Cars Australia has revealed the 911 Turbo S Land Down Under, a one-off Sonderwunsch commission marking 75 years of Porsche in Australia. It uses two exclusive Chromaflair paint colours and hides the message "See ya later mate" under the rear spoiler, visible only in Sport Plus mode or above 80 km/h.

Bugatti has revealed the Destrier, a one-off Solitaire commission built on the track-only Bolide's carbon monocoque and 1,600 PS W16, but stripped of all aerodynamic addenda to focus purely on proportion. It debuts at Pebble Beach on 16 August 2026.

Lamborghini confirms the Revuelto SV lapped the Hockenheimring in 1:41.6, the fastest time ever recorded there by a production car, ahead of its world premiere on 14 August at The Quail during Monterey Car Week. No power, torque, or weight figures have been released yet.

Belgian Mobility Minister Jean-Luc Crucke wants to study banning young drivers from powerful cars, following France and Italy. Road safety institute Vias says only 3 percent of serious crashes involving 18-24 year olds involve a car over 200 hp, versus 6 percent across the whole population.

Porsche CEO Michael Leiters has confirmed the electric 718 Boxster and Cayman are moving ahead, calling it the best economic solution after a year of reversals over the car's future. He said nothing about whether a combustion version still survives alongside it.

The French gendarmerie's rapid intervention unit in Écalles-Alix, Normandy, has put a seized Audi RS3 Sportback into active service for highway pursuits. The 400 hp car was confiscated from a drug trafficker in 2022 and refitted for police use for around €1,500.